English

Noun

Crinoline was originally a stiff fabric with a weft of horse-hair and a
warp of
cotton or linenthread. The fabric first appeared
around 1830, but by 1850 the word had come to mean a stiffened
petticoat or rigid
skirt-shaped
structure of steel
designed to support the skirts of a woman’s dress
into the required shape. In form and function it is very similar to
the earlier farthingale.

Origin of the word

The name 'crinoline' was invented by one
of the fabric's
manufacturers, who combined the Latin words crinis
(meaning hair) and linum
(meaning flax). An
alternative origin for the word is sometimes given: the combination
of the French
words crin (specifically meaning horse-hair) and lin (again,
meaning flax).

However, the silhouette did not remain that way
for long, and skirt hems began to widen to give a cone shape. In
the 1810s,
gores
began to be used in skirts again, and skirts grew wider in the
1820s. The
width of these skirts was sometimes supported by a small bustle. These were not always
sufficient, and so extra petticoats were worn to help.

The first 'crinolines' were petticoats starched
for extra stiffness, or made out of the new crinoline fabric, and they often had ruffles
to support the skirts to the desired width. However, dress fabrics
were heavy but not stiff enough to support their own weight, which
tended to collapse the petticoats out of shape. Extra rigidity was
added to petticoats through rings of cord or braid running around
the hem. In the 1830s, women started
to wear petticoats with hoops of
whalebone or cane around the hem.

The first hoop skirt in US is patent no. 4,584
from 1846, of David Hough, jr.

U. S. patent no. 20,681 from 1858 of I. R J,
Mann, was the first latticework, of strings and hoops

In 1858, the American W.S. Thomson
greatly facilitated the development of the cage crinoline by
developing an eyelet fastener to connect the steel crinoline hoops with the
vertical tapes descending from a band around the wearer’s waist.
The invention was patented in the United
States (patent US21581), France (patent
FR41193) and Britain
(patent GB1204/1859). This facilitated the fashionable silhouette's
development from a cone shape to a dome. It was not an entirely
original idea; Thompson was probably inspired by the open cage
or frame style of farthingales and panniers.

The cage crinoline was adopted with enthusiasm:
the numerous petticoats, even the stiffened or hooped ones, were
heavy, bulky and generally uncomfortable. It was light —
it only required one or two petticoats worn over the top to prevent
the steel bands appearing as ridges in the skirt — and
freed the wearer's legs from tangling petticoats.

Unlike the farthingale and panniers, the
crinoline was worn by women of every social
class. The wider circulation of magazines and newspapers spread news of the
new fashion, also fueling desire for it, and mass production made
it affordable.

Problems with the crinoline

The crinoline was the subject
of much ridicule and satire, particularly in Punch
magazine. Dress
reformers did not like it either — they seized upon
the cage aspect of the crinoline and claimed that it effectively
imprisoned women. Given that the crinoline did eventually have a
maximum diameter of up to 180 centimetres (six feet), it is easy to
imagine difficulties in getting through doors, in and out of
carriages, and the general problems of moving in such a large
structure. However, while the crinoline needed to have a degree of
rigidity, it also had a degree of flexibility. A particular kind of
steel, known as spring steel
or watch-spring steel, enabled the hoops to be temporarily pressed
out of shape.

The second problem was the potential impropriety
of the crinoline. Its lightness was a curse as well as a blessing,
as a gust of wind or a knock could set it swinging and reveal the
wearer's legs. Even worse, if she tripped or was knocked over, the
crinoline would hold her skirts up.

The third problem was the pressure, but tight
stiff corset spread the pressure.

Sitting down could be a problem if the wearer
failed to spread her skirts out properly as the entire hoop
contraption would fly up in her face. This embarrassing but
humorous tendency is often depicted in comedies of the era.

The greatest problem with the crinoline, though,
was that in some situations it was dangerous — because of
its size, the wearer was often not aware of where its edges were.
It was only inconvenient and annoying when a maid’s crinoline
knocked a vase off a table or upset a cup, but for factory girls,
there was the risk of crinolines getting caught in machinery and
dragging them to be mutilated or crushed to death. Crinolines also
burnt easily, partly because air circulated freely underneath them
and partly because the fashionable dress fabrics, silk and cotton,
were highly flammable.

The crinoline's decline

The crinoline had grown to its
maximum dimensions by 1860. However, as the fashionable silhouette
never remains the same for long, the huge skirts began to fall from
favour. Around 1864, the shape of the crinoline began to change.
Rather than being dome-shaped, the front and sides began to
contract, leaving volume only at the back. The kind of crinoline
that supported this style was sometimes known as a crinolette. The
cage structure was still attached around the waist and extended
down to the ground, but only extended down the back of the wearer’s
legs. The crinolette itself was quickly superseded by the bustle, which was sufficient for
supporting the drapery and train at the back of the skirt.

The crinoline today

Crinolines are still worn today. They
are usually part of a formal outfit, such as an evening gown or a
wedding
dress. The volume of the skirt is not as great as during the
Victorian era, so modern crinolines are most often constructed of
several layers of stiff net, with flounces to extend the skirt.
If there is a hoop in the crinoline, it will probably be made of
plastic or nylon, which
are low in cost, lightweight and flexible.

With the recent trend towards lavish weddings and
grandiose bridal attire, the crinoline has started making a
comeback. Manufacturers such as White Clover are updating the
crinoline and designing-out its historical shortcomings by using
modern material such as Velcro, elastic and Spandex.

For her first solo collection, fashion designer
Vivienne
Westwood looked to the crinoline for inspiration. The
collection, titled Mini Crini, featured shorter crinoline skirts
with more flexible plastic hoops.